What are the good guides and podcasts for Fantasy Football?
August 27, 2015 5:51 AM Subscribe
I'm about to be the only Brit in a US Fantasy Football League. My NFL knowledge isn't bad, and I'm a veteran Premier League FF player, so what should I be reading and listening to both ahead of the draft and throughout the season in order to compete?
I've been following the NFL ever since I spent time living in New York, and watch an awful lot of games (the advantage of being a fan in the UK is that the NFL streaming package is ridiculously cheap). I'm also a very active FF player of the soccer variety, both in the traditional UK style and in a couple of draft games, so I'm familiar with the differences between the two models.
I've now been invited by some old US friends to be part of their draft NFL league this year, and have accepted.
I'm looking forward to it, but I'm critically aware of is the fact that I currently don't know what the good ancillary reading sites specifically about US FF are.
What are the good guides with a specific FF focus, for example, and are there decent beginning guides out there? What's the equivalent of Fantasy Football Scout over there for regular news and tips? What podcasts should I be listening to? What advice would those Mefites who are FF players themselves give me?
All advice and links appreciated - I'm a massive information sponge on this stuff, so all suggestions are welcome, particularly for stuff that I can read and listen to regularly throughout the season.
I've been following the NFL ever since I spent time living in New York, and watch an awful lot of games (the advantage of being a fan in the UK is that the NFL streaming package is ridiculously cheap). I'm also a very active FF player of the soccer variety, both in the traditional UK style and in a couple of draft games, so I'm familiar with the differences between the two models.
I've now been invited by some old US friends to be part of their draft NFL league this year, and have accepted.
I'm looking forward to it, but I'm critically aware of is the fact that I currently don't know what the good ancillary reading sites specifically about US FF are.
What are the good guides with a specific FF focus, for example, and are there decent beginning guides out there? What's the equivalent of Fantasy Football Scout over there for regular news and tips? What podcasts should I be listening to? What advice would those Mefites who are FF players themselves give me?
All advice and links appreciated - I'm a massive information sponge on this stuff, so all suggestions are welcome, particularly for stuff that I can read and listen to regularly throughout the season.
Another thing to think about (and this may be common in Fantasy Soccer as well, so forgive me if it's obvious) is that scoring systems vary widely, and can have a huge impact on strategy. Probably the biggest swing is in leagues that are Point Per Reception, but there are other important scoring considerations - some very idiosyncratic - so it's important to know the details of your league's scoring system before the draft.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:44 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by Rock Steady at 6:44 AM on August 27, 2015
Response by poster: Good point.
Official NFL one is what we'll be using, I believe.
posted by garius at 6:46 AM on August 27, 2015
Official NFL one is what we'll be using, I believe.
posted by garius at 6:46 AM on August 27, 2015
I don't play fantasy myself, but I do enjoy Grantland.com's NFL podcast. It's got Robert Mays and Bill Barnwell, and they're currently in the midst of doing their season preview, reviewing one division per episode. Barnwell is the stats nerd --- he used to write for Football Outsiders, another site you might want to check out. Mays is a more traditional sportswriter, he's done some nice feature pieces for them, but he also likes to nerd out about offensive line play. All in all, pretty relaxed vibe and a fairly evidence-based discussion. Barnwell does some pretty stat-heavy columns for grantland too.
posted by Diablevert at 8:45 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by Diablevert at 8:45 AM on August 27, 2015
Best answer: ESPN. Fantasy Focus Football (daily podcast with Matthew Berry and new co-host Field Yates), their Football Draft Kit, and the aforementioned Grantland NFL podcast.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:56 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:56 AM on August 27, 2015
Best answer: Right now I'm really enjoying Christopher Harris's podcast Harris Football, as he's very much tape-driven as opposed to stats driven. Since everything out there is very stats driven right now, I enjoy the different perspective. Former ESPN guy that's recently branched off, so he pulls some recognizable guests.
Also, for a great mix of entertainment and as-solid-as-preseason-football information as you can get, I like The Fantasy Footballers.
Some also-rans are the 4for4 podcast, and the Audible. Both are good and I listen to their main episodes each week, but I'm not excited to listen to them when they pop on my feed like the first two I listed.
As for websites, the defacto one is Fantasypros.com. It's pretty solid. I feel like at this point, any solid player is going to be using that as their basis for their cheat sheets, so you should be familiar with their rankings.
posted by chillin411 at 9:07 AM on August 27, 2015
Also, for a great mix of entertainment and as-solid-as-preseason-football information as you can get, I like The Fantasy Footballers.
Some also-rans are the 4for4 podcast, and the Audible. Both are good and I listen to their main episodes each week, but I'm not excited to listen to them when they pop on my feed like the first two I listed.
As for websites, the defacto one is Fantasypros.com. It's pretty solid. I feel like at this point, any solid player is going to be using that as their basis for their cheat sheets, so you should be familiar with their rankings.
posted by chillin411 at 9:07 AM on August 27, 2015
Best answer: Another vote for both the ESPN Fantasy Focus Football and Harris Football. I also listen to CBSSports.com Fantasy Football Today.
posted by vakker at 11:37 AM on August 27, 2015
posted by vakker at 11:37 AM on August 27, 2015
Best answer: I really, really hope no one else in my league has tracked me down and figured out my username here because it'll let them know too much: Reddit's fantasy football subreddit is incredibly helpful. The linked news stories are helpful but I really like the comments sections and then, when the season has actually started, there will be threads where you can post your team and ask folks for advice about who to start. It's a very friendly subreddit. To get started, read about "BeerSheets"... that's step 1 for helping you.
posted by adorap0621 at 12:09 PM on August 27, 2015
posted by adorap0621 at 12:09 PM on August 27, 2015
KC has historically fired or benched players, no matter their performance or stats; for off the field bad conduct (bar fights in town, spousal abuse at home, PED usage, etc.).
KC has also consistently had the youngest team in the NFL on the field; it is where junior NFL players get their start, and also the oldest bench in the NFL; it is where many a senior player finishes their NFL career.
No matter the season; you might always have the 'best' team in the NFL.
posted by buzzman at 8:20 AM on August 28, 2015
KC has also consistently had the youngest team in the NFL on the field; it is where junior NFL players get their start, and also the oldest bench in the NFL; it is where many a senior player finishes their NFL career.
No matter the season; you might always have the 'best' team in the NFL.
posted by buzzman at 8:20 AM on August 28, 2015
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posted by Rock Steady at 5:58 AM on August 27, 2015 [2 favorites]